Sunday skiing shaping up as super

A storm dropped 6 to 12 inches of powder on ski and snowboard parks Thursday night and Friday morning, with another pulse of 3 to 6 inches expected Friday night and Saturday. The storm cycle then lightens up Sunday with snow showers, with mostly clear weather on Monday.

With the Super Bowl keeping many people at home, that makes Sunday afternoon and Monday a potential perfect delayed weekend at the resorts with a deep base, fresh powder and few people.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, Caltrans posted chain controls for I-80, but not U.S. 50 or I-5 north of Redding.

For I-80: “Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels . . . ” between Kingvale and Donner Lake, and also between Truckee and Nyack.

For updates on chain controls, phone (800) 427-7623.

With the latest round of storms, the base depth at parks has little importance for skiers and boaders, except for the length of the season (and how much water is stored to be melted off and help fill downstream reservoirs). But it is fun to track the big bases and Sugar Bowl has the most right now, 148 inches and counting. That’s more than 12 feet.

Here’s the current radar:

You can the next storm pulse expected to drop 3 to 6 inches of snow in the Sierra on Friday night and Saturday morning